Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601

Merpati Nusantara Airlines Flight 5601 (MNA5601/MZ5601) was a domestic scheduled passenger flight, took off from Achmad Yani International Airport, Semarang, Indonesia bound for Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, Indonesia. On 18 October 1992, the two-year-old CASA/IPTN CN-235-10 was on approach to Bandung when it crashed into the side of Mount Puntang, near Mount Papandayan, West Java, Indonesia at 13:30 UTC in bad weather. The aircraft exploded on impact killing all twenty seven passengers and four crew on board.^[1]

Flight 5601 is the worst ever civilian aviation disaster involving a CASA/IPTN CN-235, the deadliest in the company's history, the deadliest in Garut history, and the second deadliest aviation accident in Indonesia in 1992, after a plane flew into a mountain in eastern Indonesia which claimed 70 lives.^[2] It was also the deadliest plane crash involving an Indonesian aircraft. At the time of the incident it was the deadliest aviation accident in West Java, which later surpassed in 2012 when a Sukhoi Superjet 100 crashed into Mount Salak killing 45 people.

The crash sparked large controversy and trust issue in every Indonesian built aircraft. As because the plane was produced and designed by Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie, a former Indonesian president which at the time hold as State Minister of Science and Technology. He denied that the cause of the accident was because of design flaw and defense himself on the claim. Indonesian investigator team, the National Transportation Safety Committee confirmed that the cause of the crash wasn't because of design flaw, but due to pilot error aggravated by bad weather condition.

Flight

The plane was on approach to Husein Sastranegara Airport in Bandung, carrying twenty seven passengers and four crews. The Captain, a female, 29 years old Fierda Basaria Panggabean made first contact to Jakarta control tower in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng informing the tower about the flight.

• Flight 5601:"Merpati five six zero one. We are from Semarang"

Flight 5601 was at 12.500 ft (4.144 meters) above mean sea level. Sumardi, the person in charge in ACO (Approach Control Office), told Flight 5601 that the weather in Bandung wasn't in very good condition with moderate precipitation and some thunder. Broken clouds and visibility limited from four to five kilometers.

• ATC:"Merpati five six zero one, maintain one two five"

Fierda later decreased the plane's altitude from 12.500 ft to 8.000 ft. Fierda already asked Jakarta Control Tower about the descent. Fierda decided to do a visual approach to the airport. Sumardi, the ACO, told Fierda to contact the tower if she has seen the runway, and so Fierda agreed.

But the contact never made by the aircraft, the aircraft lost contact and disappeared from Jakarta's radar. The plane went missing over the mountain. Search and rescue team was assembled by the National Search and Rescue Agency, consisting of Cisurupan military, one platoon from Yon 303 Cikajang Garut, Garut police and National Air Force Army consisting of ten people. Local residents and villagers also helping the operation.

The plane was later discovered to be "disintegrated" in what onlookers described it as "totally incinerated". The tail and one of the propellers was the only parts left intact from the impact. The plane's wreckage was found 60 km southeast of Bandung in Barukaso Pasir Uji, Cipaganti village, Cisurupan regency, Garut. Fierda's body was found still gripping the yoke of the plane and made a nose up input. The wreckage of the plane was found to be in climbing position, possibly Fierda didn't realize that the plane would impacted terrain until the last moment, when the terrain was seen by her, she initiated a pull-up which was too late. None of the twenty seven passengers and crews made out alive. Body parts were strewn over the area. A baby was found 20 meters from the wreckage, with its legs had been burnt out due to post-impact fire. A child body, nine years old Meka Fitriyani, was found in her mother's arm. Most of the bodies were found in burn condition and large burn injuries due to post-impact fire. As the plane crashed, the fuel ignited and exploded causing massive fire in the crash site. The post-fire was so intense in fact it burns the vegetations in the surrounding area and ignited some bush fire. The wreckage was still smoking when it was founded by authorities and remained smoking even on Monday dusk. The plane's wreckage was strewn over small area and situated in mountainous terrain, which is surrounded by two steep hills. This causing difficulties in order to retrieve the bodies. Therefore, the evacuation process proceed by foot. It took three hours to reach the crash site. On Monday dusk, one day after the crash, around twenty seven bodies had been found and recovered by authorities. Eight of them had been identified including the body of the co-pilot, First Officer Adnan S. Paago. The bodies then transported to local regional hospital in Garut, the Guntur regional hospital. It would be stored and later transported to Hasan Sadikin hospital in Bandung for repatriation. The evacuation process was observed and monitored by at the time Transportation Minister Azwar Anas and Garut's mayor Momon Gandasasmita.

Passengers and crews

The aircraft was carrying thirty one passengers and crews, consisted of twenty seven passengers and four crew members. All of them were Indonesian. The Captain was 29 years old Fierda Basaria Panggabean. She had logged in 6.000 hours of flight experience. The co-pilot was First Officer Adnan S. Paago from Jakarta. Most passengers were travelling from Semarang. Some of them reside in Tangerang, Jakarta and parts of West Java.

See also

• Indonesia portal
• Aviation portal
• 1990s portal
• Disasters portal
• Death portal
• List of accidents and incidents involving airliners by airline

References

External links

• "Flight Safety Review" (pdf). Flight International: 30. 27 January – 2 February 1993.